‍PPS Fellow Norman Mintz tells the story of Bryant Park, one of New York City’s great public spaces and one of PPS’s earliest breakout projects.

Placemaking: Making It Happen (May 2–4, 2018)

Placemaking: Making it Happen is a three day course that builds on participants’ knowledge of placemaking concepts and provides the tools to implement and manage placemaking projects in public space. Content consists of an overview of placemaking principles and strategies, an interactive demonstration of placemaking tools and techniques in real public spaces around New York, and presentations from multiple longtime placemaking practitioners to provide participants with creative ideas to implement and manage their own placemaking projects. Topics will include:

PPS’s approach to community-based planning

The characteristics of great public spaces

Tools and techniques to evaluate and design public spaces

How to develop a work plan of immediate, short-term, and long-term actions

Leveraging small improvements to make larger, deeper changes

Public space management

Scaling placemaking to the city and district scale through the "Power of 10" exercise

Countless projects and case studies, as told by PPS’s seasoned and charismatic staff and fellows

‍David Haisley gives a behind-the-scenes tour of Urbanspace Vanderbilt, one of the most successful food halls in New York City.

How to Create Successful Markets (June 1–2, 2018)

How to Create Successful Markets is a two day training where participants learn the essentials for creating a thriving public market that is economically sustainable, maximizes community benefits, and contributes to the creation of public places that attract a broad diversity of people. Participants will spend the first day of the training learning the essentials for creating an extraordinary public market during work sessions, and spend the second day learning on site during tours of New York City’s thriving open-air and indoor public markets. While covering current public market trends and topics, the course also maintains a strong placemaking component, offering a variety of tools for turning markets into better community places. Topics will include:

The benefits of public markets

The ingredients of successful markets

Placemaking and markets as public spaces

Achieving financially sustainable market operations

Scaling up market facilities and operations

Community engagement

If you would like to learn more about how to make placemaking happen, or how to successfully manage a market in your community, make sure to register for one of our Spring trainings soon! Our trainings do sell out quickly, and we’d hate for you to miss the chance to learn from the experts!